Dear diary - oops, I mean “Dear Substack community”. I woke up on Sunday and checked Instagram (another healthy habit I’ve formed since starting Hej Hej 😉) and I noticed I was averaging one follower per minute for over half an hour. For context, I usually get a handful of followers a day, and approximately 37% of them are sex spam accounts. Just kidding, it’s more like 20% - and a follow is a follow, right?
I checked to see if the accounts seemed real and they were. I had no idea where these followers were coming from, but then I received my google alert on “hej hej” and I was over the moon to see that I was part of an article highlighting pop up culture in SF Standard. In the article, I was listed as one of five pop ups to visit in the city alongside heavy hitters Hadeem, Ilna, Bette’s Parm, and Bar Pie Guys. It was a bit of a full circle moment for me seeing Hej Hej listed in the same article as the acclaimed SF pop up “Hadeem”. When I was a line cook at the restaurant Octavia, Hadeem did a collaboration with us about one month into my time there. And now, 16 months later, this? What is life.
My excitement about the article was replaced by anxiety because in the back of my mind I knew that I would be slowing down on pop ups come end of March. Should I reconsider my plan now that I’m getting more momentum? Is it a huge mistake? Should I even be in this article if I only have six more SF dates on the calendar?
The truth is, if there’s one thing I can take away from my time working in corporate America and for small start ups, it’s the importance of slowing down so you can speed up effectively. This is definitely learning from a “what not do” situation, as these companies go faster and faster and fater - mistaking their momentum as progress. It can feel unnatural, risky, or even lazy to slow down. But it is crucial.
My brother and I just had a long talk about the reality of the freelancer life. I’m new to it, but I can feel it’s grips already. Working job to job, trying to make enough money to stay afloat, and rarely coming up to look around. You can missing bigger opportunities and potentially forget what your end goal was in the first place.
When I think back to what I originally set out to do with Hej Hej, it’s simple. Well, kind of. When you ask most Americans what they know about Swedish food today, they say a bit of a combination between “Swedish meatballs” and “Ikea”. I want to put Swedish food on the map for something new and different, and highlight all of the amazing culture around celebrations and food as community. What better vehicle to do this through than something everyone can relate to? A hot dog!
I realize I can’t accomplish this goal by running five pop ups every month in the Bay area, largely by myself, for the foreseeable future. Especially if I’m not planning to open a brick and mortar any time soon. I need to take a step back and think about how to expand and get my hot dogs in the hands of more people. People need hot dogs! Swedish ones, specifically.
After my brief freak out, I settled back in and decided that as tempting as it is to change course when there’s a kind press mention or when a pop up patron asks where my restaurant is, I have to stick to my plan.
Come April, I’ll be on the road for work and personal travel (setting up an NYC pop up - wahoo) and then I’ll be focused on creating more content on YouTube (think Swede-ish cooking show), adding more private cheffing to pay the bills, and trying to get Hej Hej hot dogs featured on menus at different restaurants. I’ll also be taking Hej Hej on the road throughout the summer! Of course, SF will still be on the list. I’m moving out of my apartment and in with a roommate to lower my burn rate. Taking some side steps so I can step forward in the future. It’s fine, everything’s fine.
All that to say, COME VISIT ME! I have my February pop up schedule live on my website and I’ll be finalizing my last March dates in the next week or so.
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading, as always.
Amelia 🍓